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"Sports Quote of the Day"

"Sixteen times a year, all thirty-two NFL teams give us what we're looking for: speed, skill, violence, fantasy league orgasms and a final score. No confusion. No doubt. No indecision. A winner and a loser." ~ Mike Barnicle, Print and Broadcast Journalist as well as Social and Political Commentator

Trending: Young Bears needing steady hand from Jay Cutler. (See the football section for Bears and NFL updates).

Trending: Five questions facing the Blackhawks entering the season. (See the hockey section for Blackhawks and NHL updates).

Trending: Power Rankings: Denny Hamlin heads into the Chase at No. 1. (See the NASCAR section for updates on "The Chase" and NASCAR news).

Trending: Could Duke be better than Kentucky's 38-1 juggernaut? (See the college basketball section for NCAA basketball news and updates).

Trending: Cubs and White Sox road to the "World Series".   

                                                    

                                               Cubs 2016 Record: 92-52, Cubs Magic Number 3

                                               White Sox 2016 Record: 70-74

(See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).  

NFL SCORES, Monday, 09/12/2016

Pittsburgh Steelers 38
Washington Redskins 16

Los Angeles Rams 0
San Francisco 49ers 28

Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Young Bears needing steady hand from Jay Cutler.

By John Mullin

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Maybe it’s one of those situations where no matter what Jay Cutler does, he’s wrong.

If he shows no emotion and doesn’t gesticulate emphatically that Kevin White hadn’t gone where the wide receiver was supposed to be on a third-quarter pass attempt, resulting in a game-turning interception, Cutler’s being inert.

If he does give that arm-wave in White’s direction, effectively letting the nearly 72,000 fans in NRG Stadium and beyond know that the young player in his first game has screwed up, he’s showing up a teammate.

For all of his attitude signs over the years, Cutler in fact does react forcefully, if not always pointing the thumb instead of the finger.

It would not be the first time that Cutler has given a verbal or body-language shot at a teammate, or offensive coordinator for that matter. That has happened less frequently in recent years. And at least publicly his head coach is OK with the demonstration of frustration.

“It’s an emotional game,” said coach John Fox. “I think … I can’t expect people not to show emotion. I don’t think any of that’s intentional. They’re just all competitors. They want good things to happen and when bad things happen, there’s probably an element of frustration with a lot of people.”

Then he added: “I’m kind of glad you didn’t see my reaction at that point.”

For his part, Cutler did not downplay the mistake after the Bears’ 24-13 loss to the Texans. If anything, he reverted to a calmer base course of behavior, something a young receiver, who absolutely will make mistakes, needs as a steadying and reassuring hand.

“I’ll talk to Kevin about it, but it’s the first game out there,” Cutler said. “[The pass] left my hands, so it’s my responsibility… .

“We need him. He’s going to be fine. We’re not worried about him. We like our group of receivers out there. I thought they made some plays for us. There were a few times they needed better balls. I’m going to play better. As a whole offensively, we’re going to play better.”

Bears In-Foe: A well-rested Eagles D to face Bears Monday night.

By Chris Boden

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Under former coach Chip Kelly's round-the-clock hurry-up offense, the Eagles defense needed an ample supply of oxygen masks on the sideline. Their units spent the most time on the field the last three years.

So what happened Sunday, courtesy of the Carson Wentz-led offense and the Cleveland Browns being the... Browns, behind a bad (and now injured) Robert Griffin III? They were on the field less than 21 minutes.

Former Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz took over a unit that ranked 30th in the NFL last season, yet has some very good parts in moving from a 3-4 to a 4-3 and his trademark "Wide 9" setup.

The underrated, overlooked Fletcher Cox was recognized by the team in June to the tune of a $102.6 million payday ($63 million guaranteed) over six years. After collecting just 12.5 sacks his first three seasons, he soared to 9.5 a year ago, and will attack more now as Schwartz moves him from end to tackle alongside athletic run-stuffer Bennie Logan. Schwartz also moves former 3-4 outside linebackers Brandon Graham (6.5 sacks last season) and Connor Barwin (who's posted 11.5- and 14.5-sack seasons) to defensive end. Former first- and second-round picks Marcus Smith and Vinny Curry remain in backup roles.

Nigel Bradham followed Schwartz from Buffalo to join a speedy group of linebackers, joining Mychal Kendricks around middle man Jordan Hicks, whose great rookie campaign a year ago was cut short by a torn pectoral muscle. He'd otherwise have been in the Defensive Rookie of the Year discussion. Once the Lions finally let veteran Stephen Tullock go, he reunited with Schwartz in a backup role.

Pro Bowl strong safety Malcolm Jenkins has elevated his game since leaving New Orleans a couple of years ago and now teams with small but physical former Ram Rodney McLeod, who signed a five-year, $35 million free agent deal.

One of Schwartz's ex-Bills cornerbacks, starter Leodis McKelvin, will be sidelined Monday night by a hamstring injury sustained versus the Browns.  So the decision on who fills in falls between two LSU products, seventh-round rookie Jalen Mills (who delivered the hit that injured RGIII Sunday), or another former Bill, veteran Ron Brooks. Nolan Carroll is physical in man-press on the opposite side and was having a good 2015 before breaking his ankle.

Special teams

Darren Sproles has gone to the last two Pro Bowls as a returner, and averaged 15 yards on four punts Sunday, so the Bears' coverage units have to be on-point, to say the least. He led the league in punt return average last season and has two return touchdowns each of the past two years, though rookie Wendell Smallwood returned one kick against Cleveland. Kicker Caleb Sturgis started slow but finished strong in 2015, and missed a 46-yard field goal attempt versus the Browns while converting two others. 36-year-old punter Donnie Jones was second in the league a year ago with 23 fair catches, while ranking sixth in net average, seventh in gross.

Bears In-Foe: Carson Wentz, the fallout boy in trade aftermath, delivered.   

By Chris Boden

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

It's Carson, from North Dakota State, not Pete, from the Chicago rock band.

Nine days after going from third-string understudy behind Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel, Carson Wentz was elevated to Opening Day starter following the trade of Bradford to Minnesota. That despite just a handful of NFL preseason snaps, courtesy of broken ribs in the first exhibition.

All he did Sunday was give the tough Philly fans exactly what they wanted, with a 22-of-37 passing performance for 278 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 101.0 passer rating in a 29-10 win. OK, so it was against a Cleveland defense that put six starters on the field with less than ten games of NFL experience. Yet still...

The number-two overall pick became the Eagles' first rookie starter at quarterback in the opener since 1939 (Davey O'Brien). Heck, even Donovan McNabb wasn't afforded that opportunity in 1999, as Andy Reid went with Doug Pederson instead, the same Pederson who made his rookie NFL head coaching debut after deciding to go with Wentz.

In the process, Wentz became just the third QB to pass for 275-plus yards, and throw at least two TDs with no interceptions in the season opener of his first NFL season since (wait for it...) Robert Griffin III and Jim Kelly (who had USFL experience).

His first scoring pass was a thing of beauty to Jordan Matthews, who remained the receiving corps' top target (7 catches, 114 yards). But listen to the warning 34-year-old left tackle Jason Peters gave Vic Fangio's defense:

"All we have to do is keep the pocket clean. He'll eat `em up."

The eight-time Pro Bowler also already claimed Wentz's passing on the run is as good as... Aaron Rodgers. Don't tamp down expectations for the kid, Jason. Sounds like the Bears are in trouble.

Wentz won't have his secondary target next Monday night in Zack Ertz. The tight end (6 catches, 58 yards) apparently played most of the game with a rib displacement beneath his left shoulder. The fifth-year Stanford product caught 35 passes over the final four games last season and won't play. Last year's first-rounder, Nelson Agholor, had four catches Sunday after being limited to 23 as a rookie due to ankle issues. Tennessee gave up on its 2015 second round pick during training camp and dealt 6-foot-5 Dorial Green-Beckham, who had just two grabs versus the Browns.

With DeMarco Murray dealt in the aftermath of the Chip Kelly Cleanup Project, injury-prone Ryan Matthews took over the top running back job after averaging a career-high 5.1 yards per carry a year ago. He ran 22 times for 77 yards Sunday, but Kenjon Barner added 42 on just four carries to get the team average up to about four per rushing attempt.

Peters' enthusiasm over Wentz may be a carry-over from relief over Kelly's firing, as the two did not get along. His back and ankle injuries the last couple of years had affected what had been great footwork and athleticism that consistently punched his ticket to Hawaii. The fourth overall pick from 2013 bookending the other side of the line is Lane Johnson, who continues awaiting closure to a potential PED suspension. Jason Kelce went from 2014 Pro Bowl to a bad 2015 as an undersized center who relies on leverage. The Eagles signed ex-Texan Brandon Brooks and former Jaguar Stefen Wisniewski in free agency to strengthen the guard position, but only Brooks starts and 10-year vet Allen Barbre held off third-round rookie Isaac Seumalo at left guard.

How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Five questions facing the Blackhawks entering the season.

By Tracey Myers

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

We’re already (nearly) halfway through September. That didn’t take long, did it? And with that, the Blackhawks’ longer-than-normal offseason is just about over.

We’re only one month away from the puck dropping (or droppeth-ing) on the NHL’s regular season. I’ll be heading up to Toronto next week for some World Cup of Hockey, but let’s face it: we’re all just waiting for the regular-season show to start.

We’re getting there, folks, we’re getting there. So to pass the time a bit and get you more in the hockey mood, here are Five Questions entering the Blackhawks’ season.

1. Will Artemi Panarin have just as successful a second season? The Blackhawks couldn’t have asked much more from Panarin in his rookie year. He and Patrick Kane made an explosive and productive combination, and each took home trophies his great season (Panarin the Calder, Kane the Hart). So let’s go out on a limb (sarcasm) and figure that Panarin, Artem Anisimov and Kane will be together again to start this season. Can Panarin avoid the dreaded sophomore slump? Can Panarin equal, perhaps even best, last year’s numbers? When I talked to Anisimov a few times last season, he continuously told me we haven’t seen the best of Panarin yet. Considering Panarin will be coming into this season more comfortable with his teammates, his surroundings and the English language, he should pick up where he left off last season.

2. How quickly will Michal Kempny adjust? Kempny kind of/sort of enters this season as the defensive version of Panarin: he comes with a good deal of hype and plenty of potential to thrive in the NHL. As of now (and again, training camp hasn’t even begun yet) Kempny could be on the third pair with Trevor van Riemsdyk. But we all know things change quickly, and if Kempny needs a little more veteran presence, don’t be surprised if he’s paired with one. He’s coming into a good group of defenseman that’s restored to its veteran bulk, thanks to Brian Campbell’s re-acquisition. That, coupled with fellow Czech Michal Rozsival helping him acclimate to the U.S. and the language, should make for a relatively smooth transition.

3. Was the long offseason the best thing that could have happened to some of the Blackhawks? There’s no doubt about this one. They may have been disappointed to be eliminated in April, something that hadn’t happened since 2012, but the Blackhawks’ core players have played a lot of hockey since the NHL lockout ended in January of 2013. With the influx of youth this season, the Blackhawks will once again be relying on their core players, especially early. They need them at their best. This fall, they should be at full strength and energy.

4. Will the penalty kill return to its normal success rate? Yes, we all moan and groan about the power play incessantly and last season, when the Blackhawks’ 5-on-5 scoring was particularly low, there was a definite need for it to do well. But overall the penalty kill looms larger, and the Blackhawks found that out last season, too. After having a top-10 penalty kill in the 2014-15 season, the kill in 2015-16 was… not good. The Blackhawks missed Johnny Oduya, who signed with Dallas. Marcus Kruger missing several months didn’t help – it was much better down the stretch, when he returned. Stopping goals, increasing energy and momentum: a great penalty kill does that, and the Blackhawks will need that again this season.

5. How much time will it take to replace Andrew Shaw? We all talk about net-front presence like it’s so easy to find a guy to stand in front of the net and deflect pucks. Well, if it were that easy, the Blackhawks would’ve had more than one guy consistently doing it the last few seasons. The Blackhawks are once again looking for someone to do that job on a regular basis. Ryan Hartman? Kyle Baun? Insert-other-potential-prospect here? Being the net-front presence means having total disregard for your physical health – the Niklas Hjalmarsson of gritty forwards, if you will. That presence is one of the Blackhawks’ big needs entering this season. We’ll see who’s willing to do it.

Scott Darling's 'Wayne's World' themed goalie mask is, well, excellent.

By CSN Staff

Scott Darling has a new goalie mask, and we are most definitely not worthy.

The Blackhawks' goalie posted a picture of his new mask to Instagram, and it is totally awesome, themed to the classic movie "Wayne's World."

Wayne and Garth are included — though not in the Blackhawks jerseys they donned while playing street hockey in the movie ("Car! Game on!") — as well as the logo for the fictional Stan Mikita's Donuts, named for the Blackhawks legend.

Check it out:

There's really only one reaction to this mask:

Excellent.

CUBS: Clinch party will move to Wrigley after Cardinals beat Cubs: 'It's inevitable'.

By Patrick Mooney

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

This ended the media-driven hypothetical question about whether the Cubs and their fans would rather see the team clinch in front of their rivals — and force the St. Louis Cardinals to watch part of the celebration and clean up the clubhouse mess afterward — or end the division race at Wrigley Field.

“I don’t think (anyone) cares,” outfielder Dexter Fowler said after Tuesday night’s 4-2 loss at Busch Stadium. “It’s going to happen. It’s just a matter of when.”

The magic number is still stuck at three, meaning the eventual party will now shift to Wrigleyville, where the earliest the Cubs could wrap up a National League Central title would be Thursday night against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Assuming Jon Lester — the big-game pitcher the Cubs invested $155 million in, selling the lefty on the idea he could be on the mound for a historic World Series win — beats the Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon at the end of this three-city road trip.

“I don’t want this to sound bad, but we haven’t done anything yet,” Lester said. “The Cardinals won 100 games last year. No matter what you do during the season — it’s nice, it’s fun, it’s the process and you go through it — but what matters here is another month. That’s where we put our handprint on a season and (show) what this team really is capable of doing.

“We’re having a great time. We’re playing really good baseball. But what this team is going to be remembered for is next month.”

This initially looked like last year’s playoffs, the Cubs knocking out Jaime Garcia with the Cardinals already down 2-0 and the bases loaded in the second inning. But Alex Reyes — Baseball America’s No. 7 overall prospect entering this season — bailed out Garcia by striking out Kris Bryant swinging to end the threat.

Reyes — an effectively wild and supremely talented rookie — allowed only one hit while giving up six walks across 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Overall, the Cubs (92-52) wasted Fowler’s leadoff home run to begin the game, going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and leaving 10 men on base.

The Cardinals (76-68) are still battling for a wild-card spot. Jason Hammel (14-9, 3.60 ERA) held a powerful lineup in check for stretches (nine strikeouts), but got burned with two pitches. Aledmys Diaz answered with a momentum-shifting, two-run homer into the left-field seats in the second inning. And Brandon Moss launched the go-ahead, two-run homer over the right-field wall with two outs in the sixth inning.

“Yeah, we had our opportunities,” Hammel said, “but the game is not going to wait up and give you any breaks. Move on to tomorrow.”

There is just enough institutional memory and bad blood between these two franchises — and general Cardinal Way fatigue and embrace-the-target resentment toward the Cubs around baseball — that it would have been interesting to see what a clinch party would have looked like with the Gateway Arch as the backdrop.

“For the guys that were around when they were getting beat up all those years,” second baseman Ben Zobrist said, “it probably means a lot to be (this close to clinching) against this team in St. Louis.

“For those of us that are new to the team, it’s still just (the idea) you have to take care of business in your division to be able to win the division. Yeah, it would be nice, but I think if we do it at home, that would be nice, too.”

Fowler shrugged his way through a short postgame interview at his locker and said: “It’s inevitable at this point.”

Kyle Hendricks' evolution almost leads to no-hitter as Cubs cut magic number to three. (Monday night's game, 09/12/2106).

By Patrick Mooney

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Kyle Hendricks has sneaky-good athleticism for someone who can walk through Wrigleyville without being noticed by Cubs fans. The Dartmouth College graduate has the analytical mind to absorb detailed scouting reports and apply all that information on the mound. A young pitcher is now living up to those Greg Maddux comparisons that once sounded lazy and unfair, painting the corners with an artist’s touch, creatively outthinking hitters.

It all almost came together on Monday night at Busch Stadium, the in-depth research, snowballing confidence and never-nervous body language, Hendricks finishing three outs away from the 16th no-hitter in franchise history and settling for a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in front of 43,397.

For the Cubs, this masterpiece cut the magic number to clinch the division down to three. For Hendricks, it gave him a signature-type game to add as an exhibit to his National League Cy Young Award case, slicing his major-league-leading ERA to 2.03 with the pinpoint control and unpredictable sequences that should translate in October.

The no-hitter suspense ended in the ninth inning when Jeremy Hazelbaker — the No. 8 hitter in a powerful St. Louis lineup — led off and blasted an 0-2, 81-mph changeup that didn’t dive toward the dirt and hung enough to fly 380 feet into the right-field seats.

“If you’re going to give it up, at least it’s that way, not a cheap hit or something,” Hendricks said. “Just left the ball up and he got it. What are you going to do?”

That’s Hendricks, who still shut down a Cardinals team (75-68) desperately fighting for a wild-card spot, facing only 26 batters across eight efficient innings, allowing two walks and finishing with seven strikeouts.

Aroldis Chapman got the final three outs, but Hendricks doesn’t have to overwhelm hitters with triple-digit velocity, because he knows how to minimize damage and pitch away from slugging percentage. According to ESPN, he entered this rivalry game with a 9.6-percent hard-hit rate that ranked third in the majors.

Hendricks has now allowed three earned runs or fewer in each of his last 20 starts, the longest streak by any big-league pitcher this season and a major reason why the Cubs are 41 games over .500 and have the best record in baseball.

Miguel Montero — who has caught almost 8,400 innings in The Show — called Hendricks the most-prepared pitcher he’s ever worked with in his career.

“This year, I think theory and reality have come together almost every game,” manager Joe Maddon said. “He’s a meticulous planner. I do believe that he knows exactly what he wants to do per hitter, almost per pitch, before the game begins. But then it’s a matter of putting the ball where you want to.

“That’s been the uncanny part about his season this year is that he comes up with this plan that he’s been able to go out there and almost execute it to perfection every game.”

Hendricks wants to put the ball in play and let his defense go to work and got enough highlight-reel plays to think this could be history in the making. There was shortstop Addison Russell sliding to his right and popping up to throw out Jhonny Peralta in the sixth inning. On the next play, Jason Heyward chased a foul ball Hazelbaker lifted out toward the right-field seats, knocking into fans and leaning over the first row to make the catch. The next inning saw third baseman Kris Bryant diving to his left and making a good throw to prevent a Stephen Piscotty single.

“I was pretty calm, actually,” Hendricks said. “I was definitely thinking about it, obviously. From probably the fifth inning or so, it creeps in your mind. Guys start getting quiet, not talking to me, all the things that come along with it. But it was the same old simple thoughts: Just trying to make good pitches out there.”

Hazelbaker made Hendricks pay for the one mistake changeup out of the 96 pitches he threw, a mixture of two- and four-seam fastballs and the curveball that kept the Cardinals off-balance.

“I’m not going to lie,” Montero said, “the one guy that I was the most afraid of was (Hazelbaker) after the sixth inning, because he can do a lot of different things. He can get a bunt and beat the throw. He can hit a ball in the hole and beat the throw because he’s so fast. (But I wasn’t afraid of him) hitting the ball out, so you got to give him credit.”

Hendricks is 15-7 with a 0.96 WHIP and 173 innings on his resume — and getting stronger the deeper the Cubs get into this World Series-or-bust season — but he will never be anyone’s idea of a self-promoter.

“There’s been talks for a while now about that,” Hendricks said of his Cy Young Award candidacy. “Again, those are just based on results, so the only way results are going to come is if you focus on the little things. That’s my preparation, consistent work in between my starts and then simple thoughts taking the mound.”

How 'Try not to suck' became the rallying cry for Joe Maddon and the 2016 Cubs.

By Tony Andracki

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

It's been almost five months since T-shirts became another chapter in the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry.

Korked Baseball suddenly found itself embroiled in a minor controversy as Busch Stadium ushers wouldn't let Cubs fans enter wearing the "Try not to suck" Cubs T-shirts in St. Louis because of the perception the phrase was offensive.

Joe Maddon used his platform through the Chicago media to question the decision of the Busch officials, and the Cardinals eventually relaxed and decided to allow the T-shirts into the ballpark.

And thus the "Try not to suck" campaign had found all the fuel it needed and the fire is still burning strong as the Cubs invade Busch Stadium again Monday night.

"No better publicity than being denied to wear it in a particular ballpark," Maddon said. "I thought that was great. The moment I heard about it, I said, 'Man, the sales are going to jump really good from that particular moment."

It was back in January when the slogan started to take shape as a fan asked Cubs infielder Javy Baez at Cubs Convention what advice Maddon gave when Baez made his season debut in September 2015:

"Try not to suck," was Baez's answer, prompting an uproar inside the jam-packed Sheraton Grand Chicago ballroom. 

"I remember him sitting there in that little office in the old clubhouse," Maddon said, "and he's sitting there right across the desk there and just trying to loosen him up a little bit. I knew about his past - I got to know him; I went to see him down in Puerto Rico a couple years ago - and I just wanted to try and relax him a little bit.

"That's what that's all about. We all, as professionals, one of the main things you do on a daily basis is try not to embarrass yourself. So how do you do that? By trying not to suck.

"Take it with a light heart. ... I want them to just go out there and play like they're in Little League. Like a bunch of kids having a good time. Don't worry about making mistakes."

After Baez made that snapshot story public at Cubs Convention, Cubs hitting coach John Mallee and Korked Baseball co-founder Joe Ferro (who puts on hitting clinics with Mallee around the country over the winter) decided to take that catchy phrase and create a T-shirt.

Maddon and the Cubs players sported the T-shirts in spring training and the public ate it up.

The Korked guys created an entire series of "Maddonisms," including "Do simple better," "Embrace the target" and "If you look hot, wear it."

"The website officially launched on March 4 and on March 6, the entire Cubs team was wearing the 'Try not to suck' shirt," Korked co-founder Jacob Chandler said. "It just skyrocketed. We didn't expect to do half of what we've done this year. It's just blown up.

"It's raised a lot of money for [Maddon's] charity, which is really the biggest thing we're pushing for - raising money for other charities."

Check out the entire collection on KorkedBaseball.com, which helps raise money for Maddon's Respect 90 foundation.

WHITE SOX: Biggest inning of season propels Jose Quintana, White Sox past Indians.

By Dan Hayes

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

The White Sox sort of let the dogs out on Tuesday night and it put Jose Quintana in an unfamiliar spot.

One night after they produced a run in every inning, the White Sox forced their All-Star left-hander to throw extra warmup pitches during their biggest inning of the season. The White Sox broke open a tied game when they sent 12 batters to the plate in the sixth inning of an 8-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians at U.S. Cellular Field. The teams played in front of a Guinness world record for dogs in attendance at a sporting event (1,122).

“It’s the best support for me ever and that’s good,” said Quintana, who improved to 12-10. “I can play catch every time.”

Through 5 1/2 innings it looked like the same old story for Quintana. In the midst of a great performance, Quintana was in line for another no decision as Trevor Bauer held the White Sox to a first-inning run.

But with the score tied at 1, the White Sox offense came to life and forced Quintana to head for the indoor batting cages to stay warm in between innings.

Adam Eaton started the rally with a leadoff walk against Bauer, who allowed six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. Tim Anderson, Melky Cabrera and Jose Abreu all followed with singles, Abreu’s hit giving the White Sox a 2-1 lead.

Todd Frazier singled in two more runs for the White Sox, who on Monday became only the 20th team in baseball to score a run in every inning in which it batted. Avisail Garcia doubled in another to make it a 5-1 game. Carlos Sanchez tripled in two more runs and Eaton doubled in another for the White Sox, who hadn’t scored more than five runs in any other inning all season.

The inning began shortly after the team announced it set a new Guinness world record for dogs in attendance at a sporting event with 1,122.

“It was some really impressive at-bats to go through there,” Eaton said. “Bauer is a heck of a competitor. Had really everything going tonight up to that point, but it’s kind of the way baseball goes. It’s contagious, just good at-bat after good at-bat. Those are the innings you need to have in order to be successful, so hopefully we can keep it rolling.”

Quintana said it was only the second time in his career he has had to play catch because of a lengthy White Sox inning. He threw 10 fastballs to the team’s pre-game instructor, Luis Sierra, in the batting cage located a few steps from the dugout.

The delay didn’t do anything to slow down Quintana, who was fantastic once again.

Aside from a cheap second-inning homer off the bat of Brandon Guyer, Quintana made it look easy. He allowed a run and five hits with a walk and six strikeouts over eight innings.

“If Q is going and you get offense like that, it really goes in your favor,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “If we can swing the bats like that with him, you feel really good about your opportunities.

“Q is as steady as can be. That’s a calling card for him of being able to kind of put that stuff out of his mind and continue to pitch.”

White Sox become only 20th team ever to score in every inning.

By Dan Hayes

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

When Todd Frazier homered late Monday, he not only established a new career high but also helped the White Sox achieve a feat previously accomplished 19 times in baseball history.

The 398-foot homer — Frazier’s 36th of the season — gave the White Sox a run in every inning in which they batted. An 11-4 winner over the Cleveland Indians at U.S. Cellular Field, it was the second time in club history the White Sox have scored in every inning. The team also accomplished the feat on May 11, 1949 versus Boston.

“I didn’t know we scored in every inning, to be honest with you,” Frazier said. “That’s pretty cool. Only 20 times? Wow, that’s pretty cool. I don’t know what else to say. It’s neat. It’s different. Twenty times? You would think there would be a lot more than that, but we are in the record books again. That’s nice.”

There would seem to be some irony attached given how much the White Sox have struggled at times to score this season. They were shut out for the 11th time this season on Sunday and entered Monday ranked 13th among 15 American League teams in run scored.

But the White Sox had no problem scoring against Carlos Carrasco and Co. on Monday.

Jose Abreu had an RBI groundout in the first and Omar Narvaez had a sac fly in the second inning. Abreu doubled in Tim Anderson in the third and Avisail Garcia homered in the fourth and Anderson singled in a run.

Then things got weird in the fifth inning.

That’s when Abreu, standing on third base after Lonnie Chisenhall misplayed Frazier’s single, scored on a passed ball on a third strike to Narvaez with two outs.

Eaton homered in the sixth, Tyler Saladino and Eaton both had run-scoring hits in the seventh and Frazier belted a two-run homer in the eighth.

The White Sox didn’t bat in the ninth inning.

It took a complete effort by the lineup as the White Sox finished with 16 hits, including a career high four by Garcia. The team’s 6-9 hitters finished with nine hits and scored six runs.

“We swung the bats tonight,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “All the way through the lineup everybody seemed to be clicking. When you’re knocking in runs with two outs it’s always going to be a big key. All the way through, it was a nice night. They didn’t let up. It was early, it was often.”

Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... 2016-17 Bulls player preview: Cristiano Felicio.   

By Vincent Goodwill

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Player: Cristiano Felicio

Position: Center/Power forward

Experience: 2nd season

2015-16 Stats: 3.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 10.3 minutes

2016-17 Outlook: This could sound crazy but…had the Bulls not traded for Robin Lopez in the Derrick Rose deal, Cris Felicio could’ve been the Bulls’ starting center and it wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world.

In a theory, a second-year center making NBA peanuts would’ve allowed the front office to allocate more resources in free agency and the trade market to other pressing needs. But then again, the Bulls acquired Lopez and then signed Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade anyways, so the plan wasn’t hindered.

Felicio went from a big unknown, a guy who only played in garbage time if at all, to looking like a player as the Bulls’ season wound down in 2015-16, giving life to the front office’s words: “He can play.”

His effect can’t be quantified in actual numbers since he didn’t play much, but in March and April, he had offensive ratings of 114 and 124 (points per 100 possessions). What makes him effective? He sets solid ball screens, rolls hard to the basket and considering he has great hands, it makes him an easy target on both screen-rolls and for offensive rebounds and putbacks.

Now, nobody’s suggesting he’s better than Pau Gasol or Joakim Noah. He just possesses attributes that didn’t serve as strengths for Gasol (physicality, rolling) and Noah (hands, finishing).

Felicio still needs time to develop and playing behind Lopez will allow him to do it at his own pace. But when one thinks of the young players on the Bulls’ roster, he could be the most dependable asset, as many others have a tendency to go higher but have much lower floors.

2016-17 Bulls player preview: Rajon Rondo.   

By Vincent Goodwill

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Player: Rajon Rondo

Position: Point guard

Experience: 12th season

2015-16 stats: 11.9 points, 11.7 assists (led league), 6.0 rebounds (with Sacramento)

2016-17 Outlook: The Bulls will be Rondo’s third team since being traded from Boston early in the 2014-15 season, and he’s trying to find himself in a winning situation where he can have a similar effect to his days with the Celtics.

He led the league in assists last year for the dysfunctional Sacramento Kings, but one would think he won’t have to dominate the ball as much playing next to Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler.

What he’s lost in freakish athleticism, he’s tried to make up for in set shooting, turning into a 36.5 percent 3-point shooter last season—although teams will sag off him, forcing him to hit a few before ceding space in the paint.

He’s crafty enough to finish well in the paint, although he isn’t a natural scorer. But again, he’s smart enough to have made this work for this long.

Playing next to Butler and Wade give the Bulls a dynamic perimeter, but it’s one that will take time and work for those three to carry the Bulls. And as the point guard, Rondo’s more of a natural facilitator than Derrick Rose, which could lessen Butler’s dependency on having the ball.

Key word: “Could.”

He’ll get plenty of creative rope from Fred Hoiberg, as Rondo has often clashed with coaches. But Hoiberg isn’t like the control freak Rick Carlisle (Dallas) or the no-fight-in-him George Karl (Sacramento), and will tailor his system to Rondo’s vast talents.

Who knows if Rondo’s style is perfect for Hoiberg, considering he isn’t the floor-spreading shooter Hoiberg craves, and he’s a strong personality (see Butler, Jimmy).

The Bulls continue to tout their youthful makeup, with more than half their roster having four years or less experience, which means Rondo’s genius level basketball intelligence should be used to maximum.

Like virtually every key player on the roster, there’s a level of combustibility that comes with Rondo’s history. But he’s too good to ignore, with the potential to have more than a few great nights.

Golf: I got a club for that..... Golf Power Rankings: Dustin Johnson locks up No. 1 spot for season.

By Kyle Porter

(Photo/www.thesfnews.com)

Nobody played golf as well as Dustin Johnson played golf this year.

Though there is still one event left in the 2015-16 PGA Tour season, nobody can overtake Dustin Johnson for the No. 1 spot in our power rankings. Oh, I supposed Jason Day could shoot four 59s at the Tour Championship and D.J. could shoot four 80s and I'd have some real thinking to do, but nobody can realistically overtake Johnson.

But first, let's look at the parameters.

1. Scope is last two months of tournaments
2. We value different things but will take into account wins, top 10s and cuts made
3. If you haven't played, you don't get ranked (i.e. Tiger Woods)
4. Recency matters
5. PGA Tour will be main focus but bigger European events will be factored in

1. Dustin Johnson (Last week -- 2): Johnson locked up a number of titles last week with his win at the BMW Championship. Player of the Year, No. 1 FedEx Cup spot going into the Tour Championship and No. 1 in my power rankings. He has very simply been the best golfer over the last two months and nothing Day does at the Tour Championship can change that. Think about this: From the U.S. Open to now, Johnson has finishes of 1, 1, 9, 2, CUT, 18, 8 and 1. That's a joke. He's your final No. 1 in our power rankings. Official World Golf Ranking: 2

2. Jason Day (1): Tough week for Day. He had to pull out of the BMW Championship with a bad back and fell from the No. 1 spot in our power rankings. Day has had a terrific 2016, but you wonder if he won't look back on it with regret that he didn't squeeze more wins out of it given that he had one of the great putting seasons of the last 20 years. OWGR: 1

3. Patrick Reed (3): If Reed wins the Tour Championship, he's going to fly the United States Ryder Cup team to Hazeltine on his back. OWGR: 8

4. Rory McIlroy (4): McIlroy's cold putter returned at the BMW Championship last week, and he finished T42. The narrative with him is not a difficult one to figure out. OWGR: 3

5. Jordan Spieth (5): Spieth's strokes gained stats are enthralling. He's actually putted better than last year, but he's hit worse approach shots. A top 10 for him at the BMW Championship, and now he could legitimately take home his second straight FedEx Cup. OWGR: 4

6. Paul Casey (17): That's back-to-back runner-up finishes for Casey in two straight playoff events, and he has played his way into the top five at the Tour Championship, which means he controls his own destiny for the $10 million first prize. It's unfortunate for him that he can't be on the European Ryder Cup team this time around. OWGR: 16

7. Adam Scott (14): Speaking of golfers I'm glad do not qualify for the European Ryder Cup team, Scott has back-to-back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the first three playoff events this season after a T4 at the BMW Championship. OWGR: 6

8. Henrik Stenson (6): Stenson skipped the BMW Championship, and I think it's time to start worrying about whether he will be 100 percent for the Ryder Cup with that bum knee. OWGR: 5

9. Russell Knox (7): Knox has played solidly since his win at the Travelers Championship, and his reward is a top 10 standing going to East Lake. How crazy would it be if the FedEx Cup champion (who also qualifies for the Ryder Cup) was not included in the Ryder Cup? OWGR: 19

10. Jimmy Walker (8): Walker finished T13 at the BMW Championship. He hasn't been terrible the last few weeks. There have just been better golfers ahead of him. OWGR: 15

11. Brooks Koepka (10): Koepka is one of three U.S. Ryder Cup golfers (Zach Johnson and Rickie Fowler) who did not qualify for the Tour Championship. OWGR: 22

12. Matt Kuchar (15): Last week was a big one for Kuchar, and it came just when he needed it most. A top four followed by a selection to the Ryder Cup team as a captain's pick. Then he broke some Tiger Woods news (kind of). Big stuff from somebody who apparently doesn't know how to work the internet. OWGR: 17

13. Phil Mickelson (12): A ho-hum week for Lefty at the BMW. He'll contend at the Tour Championship, but you have to think he's already focused on the Ryder Cup. OWGR: 14

14. Ryan Moore (11): Moore played poorly at the BMW Championship where he only shot better than 73 one time. Not what you wanted when you're trying to claw your way onto the Ryder Cup team. OWGR: 42

15. Justin Rose (13): Rose finished T24 at the BMW but needed to be higher to make it to the Tour Championship because of an injury that kept him out earlier this season. OWGR: 10

16. Emiliano Grillo (16): Grillo is No. 9 going into the Tour Championship. Could be the sneakiest FedEx Cup winner of all time. OWGR: 27

17. Si Woo Kim (18): Kim just keeps quietly grinding. Another top 20 at the BMW Championship and he's No. 18 going to East Lake. That's ahead of Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, Rickie Fowler and Daniel Berger. OWGR: 58

18. Louis Oosthuizen (NR):Solid stretch for Oosthuizen, who did not have the greatest summer ever. He has now finished top 25 in each of his last five tournaments including all three playoff events and the PGA Championship. OWGR: 20

Fowler, Holmes, Kuchar named U.S. Ryder Cup picks.

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

(Photo/golfpuntersguide.com)

United States captain Davis Love III focused on "what fits best for our team" in naming Rickie Fowler, JB Holmes and Matt Kuchar on Monday as three of his four wildcard picks for this month's Ryder Cup against Europe.

Love, who notably overlooked world number seven Bubba Watson, will announce his final selection on Sept. 25, after the PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship finishes in Atlanta, to round out his 12-man team.

"These three guys are who we really all wanted," Love said, referring to his four assistant captains, during a news conference at this year's Ryder Cup venue, Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minnesota.

"We are very confident in them and we are excited that we have our 11 players now and we can move on. This was a tough decision. There were many great choices ... and we have another tough decision coming up in two weeks."

World number nine Fowler, 27, a triple winner on the PGA Tour, was a member of the 2010 and 2014 teams and has always been a popular figure among his peers.

Holmes, 34, known for his prodigious length off the tee, has made just one previous appearance for his country in the Ryder Cup, in 2008 when the U.S. last tasted victory over Europe.

Kuchar, 38, who is renowned for his consistency from tee to green and an uncanny ability to grind out top-10 finishes, has featured in the last three Ryder Cups.

"Rickie, he is so excited to be on the team again," said Love. "We found no weaknesses in his game, and he's such a great team mate. He's really confident on the big stages ... he brings a lot of intangibles to our team.

"JB, he's so steady. He's easy to pick, got a lot of experience. He's consistent and he's been on a winning Ryder Cup team before.

"And then Matt Kuchar. I've been on a lot of teams with Matt. He's great, got a great attitude for match play, he's a great partner. Like JB, he's consistent. He's easy to pair."

MOST NOTABLE OMISSION

Left-hander Watson, a double Masters champion who is renowned for his booming drives and creative short game, was the most notable omission by Love on Monday after missing out on an automatic spot on the U.S. team by just one spot last month.

Asked about the absence of Watson, who has played in the last three Ryder Cups, Love replied: "We looked at a lot of guys that are in the Tour Championship and some guys that aren't in the Tour Championship.

"The players that are playing in the Tour Championship need to try and win the Tour Championship and not think about Ryder Cup points. That's the biggest thing I've told several players, 'It's not a scoring contest at the Tour Championship for who gets the Ryder Cup pick.'

"We've got a game plan, a strategy, and we're going to work on that the next two weeks and announce our (final) pick ... based on what fits best for our team, not really who shoots the lowest scores in the last tournament."

The eight automatic qualifiers on the U.S. team, confirmed after last month's Barclays tournament, are: U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker, Brooks Koepka, Brandt Snedeker and Zach Johnson.

The U.S. will bid to end a dominant run by the Europeans, who have won three consecutive Ryder Cups and eight of the last 10, when the three-day competition starts on Sept. 30 at Hazeltine National.

Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Jack Nicklaus are excited to have Tiger Woods back.

By Kyle Porter

Tiger Woods is back. This is not a drill, people. Tiger Woods is back. With the announcement on Wednesday that Woods is planning to play the Safeway Open in October, obviously everyone in the golf world had a take. Some were hotter than others, and some were closer than others. Take Rory McIlroy and Jason Day, for example. They both knew Woods was trying to return this October.

"I have sort of known that for awhile that he was trying to come back for Napa," McIlroy said on Wednesday. "That was his goal. I had a good chat with [Woods' agent] Mark Steinberg at the Open Championship, and he was sort of saying that to me.

"He seems to be doing better. I think he was probably pretty close to making a comeback earlier on this year, but I think he's learned from previous years that you have to really take time to let things heal and really be a hundred percent before getting back out here. So it will be great to see him back again. I think that's the big thing, to see him back on the course ... I'm sort of glad I'm not there that week. It's going to be a nice week off for me, it's going to be a bit of a circus.

"I think I missed the buzz that he creates at tournaments. He brings an aura and an atmosphere to a tournament that no one else in golf can bring. So I missed that part of it for sure. I think everyone's excited to have him back and hopefully he can get back on the course and stay healthy for a prolonged period of time and give it one last go."

McIlroy and world No. 1 Jason Day were in agreement that Woods did the right thing by taking over a year to come back this time around.

"It's been this time I think he's done it the right way by waiting and not coming back too soon," said Day on Wednesday. "There's been a couple of times where I feel like he may have come back too soon and kind of injured himself a little bit more and that's what's kept him out of the game so long. I knew that he was close to coming back and we chatted a little bit.

"We chatted a bit and he felt like he was pretty positive with how the progression was going with his body and he felt like he was starting to make the turn with it. Obviously if we're going to see him three times in the fall, that it means that his body's in good shape. So, I think the hardest thing for him is just to try and get the rust out and really get back to game ready sharpness, which is obviously a difficult thing to do."

Even Jack Nicklaus is excited about Woods' return.

".@TigerWoods, it's great to see you back and in good health. You've done so much for the game and it's better with you playing. Good luck!"

Jack Nicklaus
@jacknicklaus

12:33 PM - 7 Sep 2016

*************************

Woods has certainly stirred the pot this fall. A normally-subdued week at the Safeway Open will all of a sudden, like McIlroy said, be a complete circus. It's important to properly set expectations, though. Woods won't win in Napa, and he probably won't contend. It's just been too long since he played.

"Although we're expecting big things from him, I don't expect too much from him, even though he is Tiger Woods," said Day. "It's hard to say that, because he's been out ... of the game for awhile, he's been out for a little bit, but it's always tough to come back, even though you're one of the greatest of all time. It's very difficult to kind of get that sharpness back. It should take a few tournaments for him, but hopefully he gets it back pretty quickly and he can get back to, hopefully not to the old ways, but more so closer to the old ways and it would be fun to play against him when he's at his best."

Yes, it would. Wouldn't it be great to see the 28-year-old Day and 27-year-old McIlroy and 23-year-old Jordan Spieth take shots at maybe the best there ever was for the next decade? I hope it happens. I hope it goes well.

NASCAR: Power Rankings: Denny Hamlin heads into the Chase at No. 1.

By Nick Bromberg

Denny Hamlin leads the field at Richmond and in Power Rankings (Photo/Getty).

1. Denny Hamlin (LW: 3): Come on Denny, that was a weak performance Saturday night. Only leading 189 laps from the pole on the way to the win? Should have done better than that.

Hopefully you sense the sarcasm there. Last time Hamlin started first at Richmond he led 381 laps. But he didn’t win the race because of a tire problem. Going out on a huge limb here, but we’re assuming Hamlin would take Saturday’s performance over that domination-turned-heartbreak.

We noted it Monday in our breakdown of all 16 Chase drivers, but Hamlin’s currently the hottest driver in NASCAR. He’s got 11-straight top-10 finishes and drives for the fastest team on the circuit. It’s why he’s our pick for the title.

2. Kevin Harvick (LW: 2): Harvick is going to be one of the drivers Hamlin will have to beat in the final round. Saturday, less than a week after he criticized his pit crew for potentially costing him the win on Darlington, Harvick committed a pit road miscue of his own when he got caught for speeding. But that penalty probably didn’t cost Harvick a shot at the win given the Richmond dominance of the Toyotas. Harvick finished fifth.

3. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 3): The only driver to lead more laps than Hamlin was Truex, who led 193. Yes, that means the two drivers led a combined 382 of 407 laps. Truex, who finished third, gets a lot of credit for Hamlin’s win. Had Truex not moved up in front of a hard-charging Kyle Larson (who had fresh tires for the final two-lap restart), Hamlin would’ve needed to fight a lot harder for the win in the final two corners.

4. Brad Keselowski (LW: 4): Keselowski and Harvick may be taking similar routes throughout the Chase. They’re the drivers of the two best non-Joe Gibbs Racing teams on the circuit and have mastered the art of consistency. They finished next to each other in the race results at Richmond too, as Keselowski was fourth. As you’re blinded by the Toyota speed, the No. 2 and the No. 4 won’t be far behind.

5. Kyle Larson (LW: 6): Larson and crew chief Chad Johnston made a hell of a call pitting on the final caution. With a win and a guaranteed spot in the Chase, the tire play was worth the risk. Larson wasn’t going to win the race on old tires and the points reset for the Chase after the race. Wonder if Larson is replaying those final two laps in his head and wondering how close he could have gotten to Hamlin if he wasn’t held up by Truex?

6. Kyle Busch (LW: 5): We’re really trying to be bullish about Busch’s chances in the Chase, but his inability to avoid crappy luck and bad finishes this season is blunting our optimism. Busch also hasn’t finished in the top five since he won at Indianapolis. Though we’ll counter that sentence by noting he’s gotten four top-11 finishes since, a stretch that’s included Michigan and Bristol, two tracks that haven’t been kind to him recently.

So what we’re saying is that we won’t be surprised if Busch is out of the Chase in the second round or if he’s racing for a second-straight title at Homestead.

7. Joey Logano (LW: 7): Logano finished 10th on Saturday and is likely looking for a much less eventful Chase. Well, a couple of wins would be nice, but staying away from contact with Matt Kenseth (or any other driver, really) is probably a good idea.

8. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 8): Remember when Kevin Harvick pushed Jimmie Johnson at Chicago last year? The coach lot fracas would have been the conflict of the Chase had the Logano and Kenseth soap opera not developed. And, we must note, the contact between the two at Chicago wouldn’t have been as big a deal as it was had Harvick pitted for the cut tire before he crashed. Always play it conservatively, crew chiefs. Oh, Johnson finished 11th at Richmond.

9. Jamie McMurray (LW: 10): McMurray is on Hamlin-type run to enter the Chase too. Well, on a slightly smaller scale. Kyle Larson isn’t the only Ganassi car that has been fast recently and McMurray finished seventh at Richmond. He could advance a round or two if he keeps hanging around the top 10 and avoiding trouble.

10. Kurt Busch (LW: 11): Busch finished eighth, his first top-10 finish since Pocono in August and just his third top-10 finish since he was 10th at Sonoma for his 14th top-10 in the first 16 races.

If Busch ends the season like he started he’s going to be nearly impossible to beat through the first three rounds of the Chase. But if his Chase goes the way his most recent 10 races have gone, there’s not a lot to like about his chances.

11. Chase Elliott (LW: 9): Elliott’s also a driver that’s sliding into the Chase. He qualified terribly at Richmond and finished 19th. The stretch of great form he had throughout the spring and early summer is gone; though there may be a bit of a comeback brewing. After a stretch of four of five races with finishes below 30th, Elliott’s finished in the top 20 in the last five.

12. Everyone else who is in the Chase: There’s no point trying to single out another driver for 12th. Want Austin Dillon in this spot? He’s here. Like Chris Buescher’s underdog story? He’s here too. There’s space for Tony Stewart’s retirement tour, Matt Kenseth’s Chase redemption and Carl Edwards’ bid for his first win since April.

Lucky Dog: Kasey Kahne finshed sixth and ran in the top 10 for most of the evening. It was too little, too late for his Chase chances.

The DNF: Landon Cassill ended the race still running, but his car headed behind the wall early because of a brake issue. Coincidentally or not, Cassill entered the race 10 points ahead of teammate Chris Buescher for 30th in the owner’s points standings. Buescher finished 24th, 12 spots ahead of Cassill, and ended the regular season in the top 30 of the owner’s points. That means Buescher’s car is also in the owner’s Chase and eligible for the significant sum of money that comes with the privilege.

Dropped Out: Matt Kenseth

Who’s Hot and Cold at the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

By Daniel McFadin

(Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)

Once the Chase for the Sprint Cup starts, only two tracks remain on the schedule that teams haven’t competed at yet – Chicagoland Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Homestead closes out the postseason while Chicagoland has kicked off the Chase since 2011.

At Chicagoland, one of five 1.5-mile tracks in the Chase, qualifying has had little bearing on who finishes the day in victory lane.

Fifteen race have been held at Chicagoland since 2001. Only once has a winner started in the top five (Kyle Busch, 2008). That year, qualifying was canceled. Just five Chicagoland winners have come from the top 10 and there’s only been one (Matt Kenseth, 10th in 2013) in the last five races.

In 2015, Denny Hamlin won from 29th. Brad Keselowski‘s two wins, in 2014 and 2012, came from 25th and 13th. Qualifying has been canceled the last two years.

Of the 16 drivers in the Chase, six have won at Chicagoland and two have won twice (Kevin Harvick and Keselowski). Tony Stewart is the all-time leader with three wins.

Here’s a look at who is hot and cold going into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400.

Who’s Hot

Denny Hamlin: Won at Richmond, third win of season (second in the last five races). Eighth straight top-10 finishes, the longest streak of his career. Won this race last year after leading just nine laps. Only two top fives in 10 Chicago starts.

Kevin Harvick: Finished fifth at Richmond, fourth consecutive top-five finish (matches longest streak of top-five finishes by a driver this season). Finished top 10 in 12 of the last 14 races. Has  21 top-10 finishes in 2016, most by three. Only three finishes in 2016 worst than 15th. Two-time Chicago winner (2001-2002). Top fives in two of the last three races at Chicago.

Brad Keselowski: Finished fourth at Richmond, finished in the top 10 in 13 of the last 17 races, including three wins. Top 10s in the last five races at Chicago, including two wins (2012 and 2014). Finished top 10 in 18 of the last 19 races on 1.5-mile tracks, including wins in two of the last five.

Kyle Larson: Finished second at Richmond, top-three three finishes in the last three races (longest streak of career), including a win at Michigan. Finished top six in five of the last seven races. Two starts at Chicago, finished third and seventh.

Who’s Cold

Matt Kenseth: Finished 38th, DNF accident while running in top five at Richmond last week. Has only five top-10 finishes in last 12 races. Two wins this season, Dover and New Hampshire (two of the three races in round one). Top-10 finishes including a win in three races at Chicago with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Carl Edwards: Finished in top 10 in only seven of the last 17 races after having eight top 10s and two wins in the first nine races of 2016. Five poles this season, most of 2016 and his most ever in a season. Last top-five finish was second at Kentucky in the lower downforce package for 2017. Best finish at Chicago in 11 starts is second, twice, including last year.

Tony Stewart: Finished 21st or worse in the last four races. Five top-five finishes this season, only had three total in the previous two seasons combined. Three-time Chicago winner with top-10 finishes in 10 of his 14 starts. Finished 18th and 25th in the last two Chicago races.

Kurt Busch: Finished eighth at Richmond, only third top-10 finish in the last 10 races; finished top 10 in 14 of the first 16 races of 2016. Top-10 finishes in the last three races at Chicago, including his best finish of third last year.

Other notes of interesting entering Sunday’s races

• The driver leading the most laps won only one of the last six races at Chicagoland (Matt Kenseth in 2013).
• Chicagoland is one of three active tracks that Roush Fenway Racing has not won at (Indianapolis and Kentucky are the other two).
• Four drivers have won the six races on 1.5-mile tracks in 2016: Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski have two wins
  each; Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr have one win each.
• Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick are the only drivers that have finished in the top 10 in all six races at 1.5-mile tracks in 2016.
• Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher are only Chase drivers without a top-10 finish at a 1.5-mile track this season.

SOCCER: UEFA Champions League Weds. preview: Leicester, Spurs test the bright lights.

By Nicholas Mendola

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League action was fantastic, with late stunners in multiple contests, big goal performances from Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and another great Saul Niguez goal for Atletico Madrid.

About the only way it disappointed, unless you’re a Celtic supporter, is the lightning storm that moved Man City and ‘Gladbach to Wednesday.

And even that was pretty to watch (You could even say “electric” if you have David Caruso sunglasses on hand).

Groups E through H get going on Wednesday, each of them looking open for at least three if not four of the group members.

Group E looks brutal, lacking a truly top-end power but facing four teams you’d consider in that “next level” of teams poised to break through, CSKA Moscow and Bayer Leverkusen are rarely easy outs, while AS Monaco and Spurs both have depth. The latter open up play at Wembley on Wednesday.

The next group sees Sporting Lisbon capable of surprising either Real Madrid or Borussia Dortmund, though the latter two will be expecting to go through with relative ease. It’ll be Real and Sporting on Weds, while BVB starts with Legia Warsaw.

Leicester City begins its UCL group in Belgium against Club Brugge, and the Foxes’ Group G could see anyone go through to the knockout rounds. The other match is favored Porto at home to Copenhagen.

Finally, Group H. Juventus is expected to roll, but Europa League 3-peaters Sevilla join Lyon as solid contenders to advance. Lyon hosts Dinamo Zagreb to start the tournament.

Wednesday’s Champions League schedule

All games at 2:45 p.m. EDT

Borussia Monchengladbach at Manchester City
Monaco at Tottenham Hotspur
Sporting Lisbon at Real Madrid
Sevilla at Juventus
Leicester City at Club Brugge
Borussia Dortmund at Legia Warsaw
Copenhagen at Porto
Dinamo Zagreb at Lyon
CSKA Moscow at Bayer Leverkusen

UEFA Champions League roundup: Messi hat trick, Man City postponed.

By Nicholas Mendola

(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

The first eight group stage matches are in the books around Europe, with Barcelona, Napoli, and Bayern Munich making statements of intent.

One giant, Manchester City, wasn’t allowed that chance after a lightning storm forced the postponement of the Premier League side’s match with Borussia Monchengladbach at the Etihad Stadium.

Barcelona 7-0 Celtic

Neymar teed up Lionel Messi for a pair of first half goals, as Barcelona bounced back from its 2-1 loss to Alaves this weekend.

Messi scored again in the second half to complete his hat trick, while Luis Suarez nabbed a brace. Andres Iniesta and Neymar also scored.

The Blaugranas rarely need help to disassemble a team’s hopes, but Mousa Dembele‘s earned and missed penalty didn’t exactly buoy the Bhoys spirits on Tuesday.

Neymar buried a free kick just after halftime, and this one was in cruise control.

PSG 1-1 Arsenal — RECAP

Edinson Cavani scored in the first minute and could’ve had a hat trick in the frame. Those misses combined with an outstanding second half from Arsenal backstop David Ospina stopped this one from being a blowout at the Parc des Princes. Alexis Sanchez nabbed a 78th minute rebound goal to give the Gunners a point.

Arsenal next hosts Basel two weeks from Wednesday, while PSG is off to Bulgaria to face Ludogorets on the same day.

Bayern Munich 5-0 Rostov

Thomas Muller scored in first half stoppage time to buttress the lead provided by Robert Lewandowski’s 28th minute penalty kick. Joshua Kimmich added a pair of second half goals, and Juan Bernat also netted as the Bavarians cruised to victory.

PSV 0-1 Atletico

Saul Niguez scored another fantastic UCL goal to give the returning finalists a lead, and PSV’s Mexican veteran Andres Guardado missed a penalty before halftime. There’s a bit of perceived karma there, as the call was controversial at best.

Benfica 1-1 Besiktas

Ex-Benfica man Talisca broke his former supporters’ hearts with a stoppage time goal to give the Turkish powers a point from Portugal. For the hosts, Argentine attacker Franco Cervi netted his first goal since arriving from Rosario Central.

Dynamo Kiev 1-2 Napoli

Arkadiusz  Milik’s move from Ajax to Napoli is off to a fantastic start, as the Polish striker buried a pair of goals after Dynamo went ahead through Denys Garmash.

Basel 1-1 Ludogorets Razgrad

Cafu — no, not that Cafu — scored in the 45th minute to give the Bulgarian visitors a 1-0 lead at the break. Renato Steffen gave the Swiss hosts their point with a second-half equalizer.

NCAAFB: Forde-Yard Dash: Four teams that are fighting for their playoff lives this week.

By Pat Forde

Brian Kelly and Notre Dame need a win against a tough Michigan State team on Saturday. (Photo/Getty)

ON THE BRINK

This is a big weekend for a lot of marquee programs – there are four matchups of ranked teams, and three of them involve the top three in the AP Top 25. It also could be a College Football Playoff elimination weekend for four high-profile teams.

They already have one defeat. A second could knock them out of championship contention. The quartet that is fighting for their playoff lives Saturday:

Oklahoma (1). The opponent: No. 3 Ohio State. The line: Buckeyes by 2. The situation: After losing to Houston in week one, a team that was a playoff participant last year and returned a Heisman finalist quarterback in Baker Mayfield could be out of the running if it can’t beat Ohio State in Norman. What has to happen for Oklahoma to win: It has to show up for the second half. In the Sooners’ past two games against quality competition (Houston and Clemson last season in the playoff semifinals), they have scored a total of six points after halftime.

Notre Dame (2). The opponent: No. 12 Michigan State. The line: Fighting Irish by 7½. The situation: Notre Dame lost a wild, 50-47 overtime game at Texas to start the season – and while Oklahoma is living proof that a loss to the Longhorns can be overcome, two losses in three games probably cannot be. The Spartans lost a ton of experienced talent from last year’s 12-2 Big Ten champions, but they’ve also had two weeks to prepare for Notre Dame and will be motivated to take down the only team on the regular-season schedule they have not beaten in the past five years. What has to happen for Notre Dame to win: Don’t give up the big play defensively. The Irish are one of just three teams nationally to have surrendered three scrimmage plays of 60 yards or more this season. Questions about the secondary have not yet been adequately answered.

USC (3). The opponent: No. 7 Stanford. The line: Cardinal by 8½. The situation: The Trojans were annihilated by Alabama in the season opener, and it’s hard to see any team that lost a game by 46 making the playoff. But the Pac-12 championship remains in play, and with that could come a berth, and thus this game is vital. What has to happen for USC to win: It has to be tough in the trenches and corral Christian McCaffrey. The Trojans were pushed around by Alabama to an alarming degree, and Stanford prides itself on physical play at the point of attack. USC was better last Saturday in that regard against Utah State – but that was Utah State. This is not. It also has to at least limit McCaffrey to less than the outrageous 461 all-purpose yards he put on the Trojans in last year’s Pac-12 title game.

Mississippi (4). The opponent: No. 1 Alabama. The line: Crimson Tide by 10. The situation: After losing a 22-point lead against Florida State on Labor Day night, the Rebels regrouped against outmanned Wofford. Now they try for the unprecedented: beating the Alabama version of Nick Saban three straight times. What has to happen for Ole Miss to win: It would help if the Tide self-destructed the way it did last year in Tuscaloosa, turning the ball over at will, but that isn’t likely to happen two years in a row. (It was unlikely enough to happen one year in a row.) So the Rebels will have to get 60 minutes of great quarterbacking from Chad Kelly, more one-on-one victories from a tall set of receivers, and to contain Alabama freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts’ live arm and quick feet. Oh, and don’t get squashed in the trenches. It’s a lot to ask.

BIG TEN: TIME TO PLAY SOMEBODY

The conference that has the most teams in the top 15 (five of them) also has played the highest percentage of its games to date against teams outside the Power Five conferences. The number: 78 percent. Now it’s finally time for the Big Ten’s big dogs to step up in class and pick on someone their own size. Four unbeatens from the conference will take on their first Power Five foe Saturday. The list:

Ohio State (5). Previously: Boat-raced Bowling Green and Tulsa by a combined 125-13. Now: at Oklahoma, as detailed above. Buckeyes have a chance to earn the No. 3 ranking that was handed to them up to this point based on name brand and margin of victory. Ohio State leads the nation in takeaways with nine, including seven interceptions, three of which have been returned for touchdowns. Beware, Baker Mayfield, although the Oklahoma QB hasn’t thrown a pick yet this year.

Michigan State (6). Previously: Plodded past Furman 28-13 and then had a bye week. Now: at Notre Dame, as detailed above. Mark Dantonio teams tend to be very vanilla in season openers, doing enough to win and bypassing the style points. (Just once in the last six years have the Spartans covered the spread in their opener.) With two weeks to eliminate mistakes (120 yards in penalties, two turnovers) and spice up the offense (361 yards), expect to see a more polished team Saturday.

Michigan (7). Previously: Flattened Hawaii and Central Florida by a combined 114-17. Now: hosts a Colorado team showing signs of respectability. The Wolverines have extinguished hope quickly for their first two opponents, leading UCF 31-0 and Hawaii 28-0 before the games were even five minutes into the second quarter. Michigan has been strong in all phases: It blocked three kicks against UCF, had two defensive scores against Hawaii and has turned the ball over just once offensively. But Colorado has put up similarly glossy stats, so we’ll see who is ready for a quality opponent Saturday.

Nebraska (8). Previously: Grabbed the early lead in the Mountain West Conference by beating Fresno State 43-10 and Wyoming 52-17. Now: Hosts No. 22 Oregon in a major credibility game for the Cornhuskers. Nebraska hasn’t beaten a ranked non-conference opponent since Georgia in the Gator Bowl three years ago, and prior to that the last time was Arizona in the 2009 Holiday Bowl when the Cornhuskers were in the Big 12. Second-year coach Mike Riley certainly has familiarity with what Oregon does, given his many years at Oregon State, and Las Vegas is not yet sold on the 2-0 Ducks – Nebraska is a three-point favorite. And it’s been a long time since Mike Riley was favored against Oregon. “I think that we never lost confidence that we could beat Oregon, but the fact of the matter is it was focused on us because we were the in-state rival,” Riley said Monday. “But there’s a lot of teams in our league out there that didn’t beat Oregon for a long time, so we weren’t the lone ranger in that.”

CONFERENCE REPORT CARDS

How the top five leagues in the land are faring two weeks into the season:

ACC (9)

Record vs. Power Five: 4-3.

Power Five skins on the wall: Mississippi (by Florida State); Auburn (by Clemson); Illinois (by North Carolina); Penn State (by Pittsburgh).

Record outside Power Five: 14-2.

The non-Power Five losses: Richmond (by Virginia); East Carolina (by North Carolina State).

Grade to date: B-plus. Some good wins and few bad losses, but no signature non-conference triumph so far. (The Florida State comeback against Mississippi was impressive, but that was a game the Seminoles were expected to win from the jump.) On a big Saturday nationwide, the ACC landed the ESPN “College GameDay” gig for Florida State-Louisville, and the winner of that figures to get a lot of playoff hype. Clemson has not impressed so far but also hasn’t lost. Dormant Miami has shown signs of life.

Pittsburgh got a big win over Penn State and now has a chance for another Power Five skin at Oklahoma State. The real disappointment to date is the state of Virginia, where the Cavaliers are even worse than usual and Virginia Tech is a butter-fingered mess, having lost nine fumbles in two games.

BIG 12 (10)

Record vs. Power Five: 2-4.

Power Five skins on the wall: Notre Dame (by Texas); Missouri (by West Virginia).

Record outside Power Five: 9-4.

The non-Power Five losses: Northern Iowa (by Iowa State); Ohio (by Kansas); Central Michigan (by Oklahoma State); Houston (by Oklahoma).

Grade to date: D. If it weren’t for the Longhorns’ stirring victory over Notre Dame, this would be an F. Not much else has gone right, although there are two opportunities this week to make a statement (Ohio State-Oklahoma and Pittsburgh-Oklahoma State). With two losses to MAC teams and one to an FCS school, the Big 12 looks like the weakest of the Power Five by a pretty wide margin.

BIG TEN (11)

Record vs. Power Five: 3-3.

Power Five skins on the wall: LSU (by Wisconsin); Iowa State (by Iowa); Oregon State (by Minnesota).

Record outside Power Five: 18-3.

Non-Power Five losses: Western Michigan (by Northwestern); Illinois State (by Northwestern); Cincinnati (by Purdue).

Grade to date: B. If it weren’t for Northwestern and the zero Power Five victories to date from the Big Ten East, this would be an A. Wisconsin’s win over LSU was major, and the rest of the ranked teams have at least taken care of mundane business. Maryland has a chance to remain low-key undefeated and reach 3-0. Rutgers has a chance at its first winning streak in nearly two years, following Howard with New Mexico.

PAC-12 (12)

Record vs. Power Five: 5-4.

Power Five skins on the wall: Kansas State (by Stanford); Virginia (by Oregon); Rutgers (by Washington); BYU (by Utah); Texas Tech (by Arizona State).

Record outside Power Five: 10-3.

Non-Power Five losses: Eastern Washington (by Washington State); Boise State (by Washington State); San Diego State (by California).

Grade to date: B-minus. League scheduled aggressively and has a few bruises to show for it, most notably in the Los Angeles area and Pullman. (Mike Leach on Washington State’s 0-2 start: “Right now we have the atmosphere of a JC softball team. That’s what we are, a JC softball team. It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s the team that wins is the one that has the most fun. Crap like that that’s contaminated America where they give every kid a trophy and they don’t keep score in Little League anymore. I think that entire thing has retarded the competitive spirit of America. We need to keep that in mind as coaches and we need to aggressively reinforce our points.”) Losing to Boise and San Diego State are not black marks against the league; they’re both quality teams.

SEC (13)

Record vs. Power Five: 5-4.

Power-Five skins on the wall: USC (by Alabama); UCLA (by Texas A&M); TCU (by Arkansas); Virginia Tech (by Tennessee); North Carolina (by Georgia).

Record outside Power Five: 11-2.

Non-Power Five losses: South Alabama (by Mississippi State); Southern Mississippi (by Kentucky).

Grade to date: C-plus. The record is nearly identical to the Pac-12’s, with a couple of big wins in head-to-head competition, but the grade is lower. Why? Expectations are higher in a league embracing the 2016 motto, “It just means more.” Just a couple of embarrassing non-conference losses, but there also were a couple of embarrassing non-conference wins (Georgia over Nicholls, Tennessee over Appalachian State). Still, Alabama can cancel out any league shortcomings itself by winning another national title.

THE HIGH COST OF BAD CONTRACTS

With just the slightest provocation, athletic directors will throw contract extensions and pay raises at their football coaches – especially the ones they hired and desperately want to see succeed. Reflected glory is a powerful thing.

It also can lead to schools locking themselves into lousy deals with coaches who didn’t do much to earn a pay raise or a bigger buyout, but got one anyway. Some examples of coaches who are way overpaid and/or overprotected by their buyouts:

Mark Stoops (14), Kentucky. Looking like Charlie Weis Lite. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart gave Stoops a contract extension in May 2014 to celebrate a 2-10 debut season – then gave him another one in October 2014 as the Wildcats reached the dizzying heights of 5-3. That one included a major pay raise, up to an average of $3.575 million per year through 2019, and a dauntingly large buyout.

At the time, Barnhart told the Louisville Courier-Journal the contract was “about the general direction of the trajectory of our program.” He apparently couldn’t wait until Kentucky actually earned its first bowl bid since 2010 to reward Stoops. Lo and behold, that bowl bid still hasn’t come.

Kentucky lost its last four games that season, then went 5-7 again last season, and now is off to a dreadful 0-2 start in 2016. Stoops’ record is 12-26, and he’s 4-21 in the SEC. But if the school were to fire Stoops and his assistants this year, it would be on the hook for nearly $18 million in buyouts, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported Monday.

Kentucky boosters could find $18 million to solve a basketball problem. Football? Maybe not. But if the Wildcats cannot stop the bleeding Saturday against New Mexico State, Commonwealth Stadium will be a ghost town the rest of the year.

Gus Malzahn (15), Auburn. His record in three seasons has plummeted from 12-2 to 8-5 to 7-6, and last year the Tigers finished last in the SEC West. The reward for last place: a one-year extension through 2020 in April, a raise and an additional $2.2 million added to his buyout. Malzahn will be paid an average of $4.7 million per year through 2020. He hired five new assistants in the offseason and they all received multiyear contracts. When discussing Malzahn’s contract extension last spring, athletic director Jay Jacobs touted the coach’s “brilliant offensive mind.” Two games into 2016, Auburn is 64th nationally in scoring offense.

Kevin Sumlin (16), Texas A&M. He got a raise after his first season in College Station, an 11-2 surprise that included an upset of Alabama and a Heisman Trophy for his quarterback, Johnny Manziel. He got another raise in December of his second season – to a whopping $5 million a year – when the Aggies were a less impressive 9-4, just 4-4 in the SEC. That contract was extended through 2019. Since then A&M is 16-10, 7-9 in the SEC – but Sumlin has a sizeable buyout as protection if this year’s 2-0 start should go south the way the past two seasons have.

Of note: Sumlin and Malzahn meet in the Buyout Bowl on Saturday in Auburn. Maybe the victor will get another extension.

Jim Mora (17), UCLA. He got a two-year extension to his deal in June, pushing it through 2021. While the financial terms of the deal are hardly the stuff of reckless spending – there are incentives for academic and athletic success, but no raise – the length of the new deal is interesting. Most coaches want four years for plausible deniability with recruits – “I will be your coach for your entire college career” – but this gives Mora a lavish six. His Bruins opened the season with a loss to Texas A&M, the fifth time in a 17-game span UCLA lost as a favorite.

Kirk Ferentz (18), Iowa. The school simply loves throwing money at Ferentz. This month, Iowa gave him a whopping 10-year extension – for the second time. He got the first one in 2009, and it came with a big buyout that made tolerating a coach with a top-10 salary and a 28-25 record from 2011-15 a necessity. This one comes with a substantial and complicated buyout as well. Some of the Ferentz love is certainly justifiable – he’s been both successful and loyal, at a place that hardly offers all the advantages of an elite program. But there have been national championship coaches who got nowhere near that kind of security, and Iowa has never finished higher than seventh in the final polls under Ferentz.

Why didn’t LSU fire Les Miles (19) last year? In part because of the bad optics associated with paying an eight-figure buyout while the state was slashing funding to higher education. Miles survived then, but may not survive this season. Still, it will cost a lot to get rid of him.

ON THE FLIP SIDE, IT’S NOT THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE A FEW MILLION

There is stress, and there is scrutiny. Coaches have been known to do and say stupid things, which opens them up to second-guessing from the likes of The Dash. Examples from this past Saturday:

Sometimes you say something dumb: “It’s hard to say when the score is what it is, but we came in here and outhit those guys today. Standing on the sideline, there was no doubt who was hitting harder.” First-year UCF coach Scott Frost (20) said this after a 37-point loss to Michigan. It’s true that the Knights outgained the Wolverines on the ground 275-119 – but when the score was 31-0 early in the second quarter and 44-7 early in the third, maybe you skip that line of commentary.

Sometimes you flub clock management: Bob Diaco (21) of Connecticut was left trying to explain how his team had a second down inside the 1-yard line against Navy with 17 seconds left, the clock stopped and one timeout – and only ran one more play. The play didn’t work, and UConn lost. Diaco burned the timeout with the clock stopped because the Huskies were in danger of getting a delay of game, then called a running play that was stuffed. By the time everyone got lined up again, time had run out before UConn could snap the ball and Navy had won. Ouch.

Sometimes you call a dumb pass play: Philip Montgomery (22) of Tulsa dialed up a truly bizarre call against Ohio State. His team trailed 13-3 and had the ball on its side of the 50 with less than a minute left in the half – a manageable deficit to take into halftime.

Quarterback Dane Evans had had an interception returned for a touchdown not long before. A huge storm – sheets of rain, gusting wind – was moving in. Surely, Tulsa would play it safe and take its chances in the second half. Except it did not. Evans threw one pass that bounced off his receiver’s hands – and then Tulsa threw it again. This one, a wind-blown wobbler way off target, also was returned to the house. It was 20-3 at halftime and the rout was on.

And if you’re an assistant, you might just get your head ripped off by the boss on national TV. Nick Saban (23) did that to his offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin (24), late in Alabama’s victory over Western Kentucky. The Dash doesn’t read lips well enough to know whether Saban was threatening to fire Kiffin and replace him with newly hired analyst Steve Sarkisian (25), but it makes for a fun theory.

YEAR OF THE RUNNING BACK REBOOT

The putative Year of the Running Back is off to an uneven – or at least unpredictable – start.

The nation’s leading rusher? It’s not Leonard Fournette (26) of LSU, who played one game and missed the next with an injury. Say hello to Donnel Pumphrey (27) of San Diego State, the speedster who surpassed Marshall Faulk as the school’s career rushing leader Saturday in a victory over California.

The Pac-12 back making headlines? It’s not Christian McCaffrey (28) of Stanford, who played one game and then had a bye week. Say hello to Kalen Ballage (29) of Arizona State, who barged through the pitiful Texas Tech defense for eight touchdowns Saturday night.

The most electrifying runner in the nation? It’s not Dalvin Cook (30) of Florida State, who is averaging just 87 yards per game and a little more than five yards per carry. It’s not even a running back. Say hello to Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson (31), averaging 9.94 yards per carry and capable of hurdling a Syracuse defensive back like he’s stepping over a crack in the sidewalk.

Some other big names are yet to light it up out of the backfield so far this season.

Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine, a 3,000-yard rusher through two seasons, has just 89 rushing yards in 2016. Elijah Hood of North Carolina ran for 1,400 yards last year, just 160 thus far this year. Shock Linwood of Baylor, Jeremy McNichols of Boise State, Wayne Gallman of Clemson – they’re all still on the launching pad, waiting to take off with a huge game in 2016.

It most likely will happen for all of them. But it hasn’t yet, in a season that has gone off-script for some high-profile running backs.

A BLUEBLOOD COMES TO BOONE

One thing Miami (32) needs to understand when it takes the extraordinary step of visiting Appalachian State (33) on Saturday: You don’t just walk into Kidd Brewer Stadium expecting the home team to roll over.

Or so The Dash has heard. Like most of the rest of America, The Dash has never been to Kidd Brewer Stadium.

It’s a little slice of heaven in the mountains of Western Carolina – emphasis on little. It holds 23,000, but hillside seating can increase attendance to as much as 30,000. The school’s largest crowd is 31,000-plus – until the Hurricanes come to town, then that will change.

The stadium is named for the App coach from 1935-38, whose 1937 team was unbeaten and unscored upon in the regular season. (App went on to lose 7-0 in December to Southern Mississippi in what was called the “Doll and Toy Charity Game.”) Brewer went on to serve in World War II, work in politics and run unsuccessfully for several elected offices. He was better at winning football games than winning political races, apparently.

The Miami game allegedly sold out in an hour, making it just a bit bigger deal than the bygone rivalry tussles with Western Carolina for the Old Mountain Jug. That’s a relic of App State’s FCS/I-AA past. Now that the Mountaineers are in the FBS Sun Belt Conference, they’ve hit the big time.

And somehow got Miami to come to town. The game reportedly came about when an unnamed opponent dropped Miami last fall. App State will play a return game in 2021 and not get a guarantee for it, which at least makes this cost effective for the Canes.

But still: You dare enter Kidd Brewer, you best be ready.

THE JOYS OF BEING THE TALLEST MAN IN FOOTBALL

The two most exciting Arkansas victories of the past five years have one large thing in common: a hand from Dan Skipper (34). The offensive tackle’s 6-foot-10-ness has directly contributed to epic triumphs over Mississippi last year and TCU last week.

Last November against Mississippi, Skipper was the guy who tipped Hunter Henry’s desperation, fourth-and-25 lateral in the direction of running back Alex Collins, who ran for a stunning first down that helped the Razorbacks win 53-52 in overtime. Skipper out-reached an Ole Miss defender like it was a rebound coming off the rim, tipping it in Collins’ direction, and the rest is Hog history.

Saturday in Fort Worth, with Arkansas having rallied ferociously to force a 28-all tie against TCU, the Horned Frogs drove briskly for what could have been the winning field goal. But Skipper stuck another paw in the air and blocked the kick, sending the game into overtime, where Arkansas prevailed.

It was Skipper’s sixth blocked kick of his college career. But the first one in a game the Hogs won.

In a game of inches, sometimes it’s good to have the longest guy in the sport.

COACH WHO EARNED HIS COMP CAR THIS WEEK

Jeff Monken (35), Army. The Black Knights are 2-0 for the first time since 1996 and have done it impressively, beating Temple by 15 and Rice by 17. In the past four seasons Army hasn’t won more than four games in a year, so this start has stoked hopes of a bowl game and – dare to dream – a victory over Navy for the first time since 2001.

But Monken has company, because the other service academies also are undefeated:

Navy (36) and Ken Niumatalolo are 2-0, thanks in part to Bob Diaco’s clock management mentioned above. Air Force (37) and the perpetually underrated Troy Calhoun are 2-0 as well, averaging 42.5 points per game.

And they all are doing it the service academy way – on the ground, with the option. Between the three of them, they have thrown a total of 43 passes this season. California quarterback Davis Webb, by contrast, has chucked it 126 times all by himself.

COACH WHO SHOULD TAKE THE BUS TO WORK

Pat Fitzgerald (38), Northwestern. You could blame the Wildcats’ dispiriting 0-2 start in part on risky scheduling – if the intent is to schedule cream puffs, then do it right. Instead, Northwestern opened with a Western Michigan program that is blossoming into a Mid-American Conference force, then followed it up with FCS Illinois State, which now has won 25 of its past 30 games. But still: Northwestern won 10 games last year, brought back a solid nucleus from that team and figured to be much improved offensively. Instead, the Wildcats are averaging 15 points and 298 yards per game. It will be a hard road to bowl eligibility from here.

POINT AFTER

When hungry and thirsty in the great football city of Dallas, The Dash has you covered. Hit Ellen’s Southern Kitchen (39) downtown and order Joe’s Mac & Cheese with chorizo and jalapenos. Or come for breakfast, which is a specialty.

And when you need a beer in Big D, The Dash recommends a Deep Ellum IPA (40) from Deep Ellum Brewing Company. It goes well with football. Thank The Dash later.

NCAABKB: NCAA removes tournament games from North Carolina over HB2 law.

By Rob Dauster

(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

The NCAA announced on Monday evening that they will relocate all of their championship events scheduled to take place in North Carolina due to the controversial HB2 law, which eliminates protections for the LGBT community and, inside government buildings, makes it unlawful for transgendered people to use a bathroom that differs from the gender listed on their birth certificate.

There were seven events scheduled to take place in North Carolina during the 2016-17 school year, including the NCAA tournament; the 1st and 2nd round games that were supposed to be played in Greensboro, N.C., will be relocated to a site that is still to be determined.

“Fairness is about more than the opportunity to participate in college sports, or even compete for championships,” said Mark Emmert, NCAA president. “We believe in providing a safe and respectful environment at our events and are committed to providing the best experience possible for college athletes, fans and everyone taking part in our championships.”

The decision was made not only because “North Carolina law provides legal protections for government officials to refuse services to the LGBT community”, but also due to the fact that five states — Vermont, Connecticut, New York, Minnesota and Washington — and numerous cities currently prohibit travel to the state for public officials and employees of public institutions.

Over the summer, the NCAA notified all cities that were scheduled to host an NCAA sanctioned championship that they were required to fill out a questionnaire detailing how they would protect the athletes — and the fans that traveled and paid for a ticket to watch and support their teams — from discrimination. Those questionnaires, which were specifically targeted at cities in North Carolina, were due in August.

The thought was that the NCAA might be able to be the ones to get the law amended, maybe even eliminated. This isn’t like the NBA pulling the all-star game. It’s different than having Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr and Pearl Jam cancel concerts within the state’s borders.

North Carolina is college basketball.

The people of that state care about the Tar Heels and the Wolfpack, the Blue Devils and the Demon Deacons more than they care about just about anything else. If losing major money-making events isn’t enough to convince elected officials to make a change, the hope was that threatening to pull the NCAA tournament from the state would be.

It wasn’t.

And the result is that North Carolina will not host NCAA tournament games this year. The state likely won’t host NCAA tournament games as long as this law, as it is currently written, remains on the books.

That may be enough to convince the people of that state to replace their current elected officials with one who will change the law.

Because you can mess with their money. North Carolinians have proven that already. You can send the revenue generated by the NBA All-Star game or a Springsteen concert out of state. That might hurt, but will it hurt as much as not being able to watch UNC or Duke play two tournament games in their backyard?

Will it hurt as much as potentially setting one of the state’s two bluebloods up for an early exit from the Big Dance?

CBS Sports asked anonymous coaches about this decision over the summer, and one answer stood out to me: “If it keeps me from having to play a first-round game in the tournament against Duke or North Carolina in North Carolina, I’m absolutely for it. Please don’t put my name on that.”

“But I know I’m not the only coach who feels that way.”

If coaches are happy about this from a competitive standpoint, then the fans supporting those teams won’t be.

And if the state’s basketball fans aren’t happy, maybe that’s what it will take to get those elected officials to either change the law or find themselves out of office.

Could Duke be better than Kentucky's 38-1 juggernaut?

By jzmazlish

(Photo/Pinterest)

The Blue Devils might not have better long-term talent, but they stack up favorably as a college team.

This year's Duke team is going to be loaded. The Blue Devils are at the top of nearly every preseason top 25, be it ESPN's, Sports Illustrated's or SB Nation's. Duke not only has the country's No. 1 recruiting class with two top-five recruits and two other McDonald's All-Americans, but also returns a veteran core headlined by Grayson Allen, possibly the best returning player in college basketball.

In the one-and-done era, it's nearly impossible to accumulate such a collection of talent. I say nearly impossible because one team should stand out in everyone's minds as the most talented college team in recent memory. It wasn't too long ago that John Calipari's "platoon system" and Kentucky's stacked 2014-15 team seemed primed to march to a 40-0 record, before losing to Wisconsin in an all-time classic Final Four showdown.

This year's Duke team might not have quite as much NBA talent as that Kentucky squad, but what's frightening is they actually have the college talent to compare, and possibly even favorably. Each roster has its own unique combination of strengths and weaknesses, but when evaluated side by side, it becomes clear how scary good this Duke team could be.

For the purposes of this post, I will leave out Kentucky's Alex Poythress since he tore his ACL eight games into the season. Also, I will be evaluating the Kentucky players as they were in 2014-15, not factoring in what we know about them now as NBA players.

Backcourt

Duke	Kentucky
SR Matt Jones	SO Andrew Harrison
JR Grayson Allen	SO Aaron Harrison
FR Frank Jackson	FR Tyler Ulis

One interesting quirk about this year's Duke team is that they lack a traditional point guard. Allen, Jackson and Jones could all be classified as combo guards, with Allen and Jones particularly as more traditional shooting guards. Jones stands out as the worst of the group. He's a solid veteran but he's not even a fringe NBA talent while the other five guards all are. However, Allen also stands out as the best college player in the group. Ulis ended up being a star as a sophomore, but freshman Ulis does not compare to what Allen should be this year as an upperclassman who was already one of college basketball's best players last year.

Frank Jackson will probably take more time adjusting to the college game than Ulis did, but he's also a better fit on a team filled with talent than either of the Harrison twins. Kentucky's biggest downfall in many ways was that the Harrison twins played over more talented freshmen and dominated the ball when they were in the game. Jackson's ability to shoot the ball will allow him to contribute for Duke even if he hasn't learned how to attack and create for others at the NCAA level.

Duke could face a very similar pitfall to Kentucky if Coach K chooses to play Jones over Jackson. Calipari yielded to the veteran Harrison twins despite their inferior talent, and hopefully K won't do too much of the same with overplaying Jones on such a stacked team.

Nonetheless, the overall edge goes to Duke here mostly because of just how good Allen is poised to be.

Wings

Duke	Kentucky
SO Luke Kennard	FR Devin Booker
FR Jayson Tatum	FR Trey Lyles

Kennard and Booker both play the role of sharpshooter for their respective teams. Freshman Booker was a better player than Kennard was last season, but now entering his sophomore year Kennard could play a very similar role to what Booker did on the Kentucky team. Both are elite shooters with some actual ability to create their own shot as well, and Kennard will need to accept his role as more of a spot-up guy due to the talent surrounding him much like Booker did at Kentucky.

Lyles was forced to play out of position as a small forward at Kentucky, and though Tatum is more of a traditional wing he still might be better off playing the four in college. Much like Lyles, though, he will play a lot of small forward due to the sheer amount of true big men each team possesses. Both Lyles and Tatum came into college as top-10 recruits, but Tatum's top-five pedigree and more perimeter-suited game give him a slight edge over Lyles here.

There's not much to separate these two wing groups. Tatum and Lyles are both smooth scorers, while Kennard and Booker are two of the purest shooters out there. I'll give the slightest of edges to Duke due to having a little more experience and having the most hyped college talent of the four guys in Tatum.

Frontcourt

Duke	Kentucky
SR Amile Jefferson	JR Willie Cauley-Stein
SO Chase Jeter	SO Marcus Lee
FR Harry Giles	FR Karl-Anthony Towns
FR Marques Bolden

Though Duke may have a touch more depth and experience, it's hard for anyone to compare to Kentucky's 2014-2015 front line of Towns and Cauley-Stein. Starting two top-10 pick 7-footers just doesn't happen very often, particularly not when one of them is a freshman who might've been the best player in the entire country. There's almost no chance Duke's bunch ends up being as good as Kentucky's frontcourt, even Marcus Lee was another overwhelmingly athletic 7-footer.

That being said, Duke has one of the more talented frontcourts imaginable. The centerpiece is No. 1 overall recruit Harry Giles. He's recovering from two torn ACL's, so there are some real questions around his future, but when healthy he's got the quickness and skill to play the four, and the bouncy interior athleticism to protect the rim and beat up smaller opponents as a five.

Next to Giles returns Amile Jefferson, recovering from his own injury that forced him to redshirt last season. Jefferson isn't the type of NBA talent the rest of these guys are, but he's an elite college big at this point in his career with fantastic defensive and rebounding instincts. Chase Jeter disappointed a bit as a freshman, but the former top-15 recruit is a piece most teams would be thrilled about as their primary big guy. Topping it all off is the simply massive Marques Bolden, who has the soft touch and skill to be projected as a lottery pick in some places. It's unclear how Coach K will find time for all of these guys up front, but that falls into the category of a good problem for now.

The edge goes to Kentucky mostly because of how exceptional Karl-Anthony Towns was (and is), but Duke's frontcourt has the chance to be as good as any non-Towns/Stein frontcourt of the past 10 years or so.

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It's hard to expect Duke to have anything close to the magical season Kentucky did. Their highly touted freshmen might not be as ready to play, and finding the right chemistry and system to balance such a talented team will probably remind Coach K a bit of Team USA. Injuries are always a potential hazard, as well. Additionally, playing in the tougher ACC probably prevents any chance of this Duke team running the table like Kentucky did through the SEC.

All that being said, when you compare the talent side by side it is tough not to get excited about watching Duke's team this year. Whether their performance will compare to Kentucky's remains to be seen, but there's reason to expect they could be similarly dominant. History might even look upon them more fondly than Kentucky, if they can secure the hardware Kentucky came oh so close to.

Four Paralympians Just Ran The 1500m Faster Than Anyone At The Rio Olympics Final.

By Maxwell Strachan

Silver medalist Tamiru Demisse, gold medalist Abdellatif Baka and bronze medalist Henry Kirwa celebrate on the podium at the medal ceremony for the Men’s 1500m - T13 Final. (Photo/Alexandre Loureiro via Getty Images).

Even the fourth-place finisher would have won gold in August.

On Sunday, Fouad Baka of Algeria finished a 1500-meter race in just 3 minutes and 49.59 seconds at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

That’s fast, so fast that if Baka had finished with that time at that exact stadium in August, he would have beat out Matthew Centrowitz Jr. of the U.S. for the Olympic gold medal. Centrowitz Jr. finished the final in 3 minutes and 50 seconds. 

Unfortunately for Baka, he wasn’t racing in the Olympics. He was racing in the Paralympics, where not one or two runners finished ahead of him, but three.

Baka ended up placing fourth in the men’s 1500m - T12/13 Final, a race for the visually impaired. In front of him was bronze medalist Henry Kirwa of Kenya (3:49.59), silver medalist Tamiru Demisse of Ethiopia (3:48.59) and gold medalist Abdellatif Baka, who is the brother of the fourth-place Fouad (3:48.29).

“It wasn’t easy to get this gold medal,” Abdellatif said afterward. “I’ve been working one or two years nonstop and it’s been very, very hard for me.”

Simon Usborne Retweeted Craig Spence:

"Amazing. I wrongly assumed blades involved. But T13 means visually impaired.

Simon Usborne

@susborne"

"WOW! The top four finishers in last night's 1500m T13 race were faster than the Olympic gold medallist at #Rio2016 #Paralympics

Craig Spense

@craigspense"

“It wasn’t easy to get this gold medal,” Abdellatif said afterward. “I’ve been working one or two years nonstop and it’s been very, very hard for me.”

On This Date in Sports History: Today is Tuesday, September 14, 2016.

Memoriesofhistory.com

1916 - Christy Mathewson (Cincinnati Reds) won his 373rd career game. It was the only victory he had earned for a team other than the New York Giants during his 17-year career.

1959 - The $32 million Aqueduct, operated by the New York Racing Association, opened.

1968 - Denny McLain (Detroit Tigers) became baseball's first 30-game winner in 34 years. Dizzy Dean (St. Louis) had earned 30 wins in 1934.

1986 - Bob Brenley (San Francisco) tied a major league baseball record when he committed four errors in one inning.

1987 - Tony Magnuson cleared 9.5 feet above the top of the U-ramp and set a new skateboard high jump record.

1987 - The Toronto Blue Jays set a club record of 10 home runs when the defeated the Baltimore Orioles 18-3.

1990 - Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. (Seattle Mariners) hit back-to-back home runs off California Angels pitcher Kirk McCaskill in the first inning. The Angels won the game 7-5.

1994 - It was announced that the season was over for the National Baseball League on the 34th day of the players strike. The final days of the regular season were canceled. Baseball owners had voted 26-2 in favor of ending the season. The result was a year with no World Series for the first time since 1904.

1999 - Leon Lett (Dallas Cowboys) was suspended for seven games as punishment for a fifth violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy.

2002 - Tim Montgomery (American) set a world record in the 100 meters when he finished in 9.78 seconds. The previous record had been set in 1999 by Maurice Green (9.79 seconds).

2003 - Jamal Lewis (Baltimore Ravens) set an NFL record for yards gained in a single-game when he gained 295 yards rushing. The Ravens beat the Cleveland Browns 33-13.

2003 - Vinny Testaverde (New York Jets) became the ninth player in NFL history to pass for over 40,000 yards.

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